DOHA: A Qatari charitable organisation has lent a helping hand to children displaced due to ongoing violence in Syria and forced to discontinue school education.
Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services, popularly known by its abbreviated name RAF, has built 12 education centres in Daraa Governorate in southeastern Syria for displaced children so they could continue education.
The centres will hold tutorial classes in all basic subjects for the war-affected students so they could take national examinations and their education is not disrupted.
The centres have cost RAF about QR500,000 collected through donations made by citizens and expatriates in Qatar.
To man these centres, some 160 teaching and administrative staff have been recruited. The teachers will provide quality education to beneficiaries.
At least 1,800 children who were in preparatory and secondary schools when they were displaced by violence and forced to flee will benefit.
The centres will also cater to students in localities in Daraa area who left schools.
The education programme is being executed in collaboration with a local organization, Ahl Horan, to help students rejoin school and participate in terminal examinations for the academic year 2015-16.
There was separate centres for girls and boys and are divided equally in number for both.
Each centre will teach six basic subjects, including mathematics, science, foreign languages and Arabic.
One classroom will have 25 students and each centre will hold at least six classes daily.
Many schools are left damaged in the governorate, leading to a collapse of the education system there, RAF has noted with concern in a statement.
“It was necessary to rescue school dropouts and put them back in school to safeguard their future.
“So a massive drive was launched to restore damaged educational facilities and build new schools.
“RAF participated in the campaign and made its contribution to saving the future of the young Syrians,” the statement added.
More than 50 percent of Syrian children in school-going age cannot go to school due to lack of educational services.
Citing a report, RAF said 51.8 percent of children were not admitted to school by the end of 2013 and more than 4,000 schools of a total of 22,000 run by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Syria, are abandoned.
The Peninsula
